Feb. 12, 2006

Final Stats

NORMAL, Ala. - When Alabama State started with four consecutive losses to open its Southwestern Athletic Conference schedule, some thought it was a forbearer of things to come.

Beating Alabama A&M on Jan. 14 was considered a fluke victory, thanks to help from two power outages. Then, going on a tear in which the Hornets won five of six was dismissed because it came against some of the SWAC's lower-tiered teams.

Now, after beating the Bulldogs again - this time 80-74 on the road in front of a national television audience - the Hornets hope to get labeled again, this time as a serious championship contender.

"We knew we could beat them," freshman guard Andrew Hayles said after a stellar 16-point, seven rebound performance. "Other people thought it was a fluke last time. But we knew it wasn't and had to go out and prove it."

ASU (9-14, 7-5 SWAC) accomplished a lot with the victory and it had nothing to do with perception. The Hornets have now won five straight and seven of eight to move alone into fourth place in the conference. They now own the tiebreaker over Alabama A&M (8-10, 6-6) and can conceivably move up in the standings with home games against the top three teams in the league - Southern, Grambling State and Jackson State.

But head coach Lewis Jackson doesn't want to look that far ahead - at least not now - as he savors the Hornets' first win at T.M. Elmore Gymnasium since the 2000-01 season.

"We just want to win as many games as we can and position ourselves for the (SWAC) tournament," Jackson said.

The Hornets took a brief one-point lead in the opening minutes but Alabama A&M controlled the first half. ASU trailed by as many as nine points as it could not handle the Bulldogs inside and it couldn't keep Michael Ford and Chris Collins from putting the ball in the basket.

Alabama A&M held a 24-21 rebound advantage and the duo of Ford and Collins combined for 25 points on 12-of-18 shooting in the opening stanza. Still, Bama State went into the half with a manageable 38-32 deficit.

"They had more intensity. It's like we showed up and watched them play," Jackson said. "They were aggressive and they attacked us. But as bad as we played, we were only down by six."

Jackson used that as motivation at halftime and the Hornets responded. Hayles was hot early in the second half, scoring 12 consecutive points on three 3-pointers and three free throws after being fouled on a 3-point attempt. His last triple cut the ASU deficit to 47-46 with 13:41 left in the second half.

ASU would take the lead for good on another Hayles bucket a minute later and on the next possession, Cedric Mitchell would knock down a 3-pointer to give the Hornets a 55-51 lead.

The Hornets looked to be on their way to a blowout in the second half when Richard Lott, Jr. threw down a strong, one-handed slam on the fast break inside of nine minutes. A&M's Mickell Gladness was called for a flagrant foul and Lott knocked down one-of-two free throws to push the ASU advantage to 63-56.

The Bulldogs, though, didn't give up. They got to within two points a minute later but every time they got close, Alabama State had the answer, either on the offensive or defensive end of the floor.

A&M struggled mightily from the free throw line, shooting 42 percent (10-of-24). Star guard Obie Trotter had a tough day as well. He scored 16 points and added six assists but was 6-of-18 from the field and rarely had any clean looks at the basket.

The Hornets ultimately won the rebound battle (48-42) and got strong efforts from Mitchell (13 points, five rebounds, five assists), Dustin Richmond (11 points, five assists, four rebounds, two steals), Akeim Claborn (seven points, nine rebounds, three steals, two blocked shots, two assists) and Herbert Warren (12 points, four rebounds, two steals off the bench).